Missing Her: Reviewed

Christina Mengert has reviewed Claudia Keelan's new book, Missing Her, for the Constant Critic website. A taste...

"In a world that is increasingly isolated (communicating more and more at a virtual remove), yet increasingly interconnected via the same technology that removes us, I deeply admire work that insists on the importance—perhaps to our survival as a species—of actively remembering the Whole of which we are a part, allowing that to guide us toward meaningful action (as action without reflection is likely to perpetuate violence—and reflection without action has no capacity to intervene). Whatever the myriad roles a book of poems might assume, to encourage critical reflection on the ideas that help us move away from a selfish destruction of a planet, as well as the oppression and degradation of its people, is a worthy endeavor."

Read the whole review here: www.constantcritic.com/christina_mengert/missing-her

New Books: Missing Her by Claudia Keelan

Missing Her: New poems by Claudia Keelan

In poems performed via scat singing, via documentary, poems devoted to the sui generis, Missing Her redefines the elegy as a seeking statement.

"Keelan's work, always politically engaged, here takes a tender and personal turn. Much of what is mourned in these interwoven elegies is private, close in, but even the larger, more public themes — the Vietnam War, Jesus, the oil industry, September 11 — are brought to an intimate scale. The central long poem 'Everybody's Autobiography' achieves a masterful fusion of political history, personal responsibility, and communal grief. A deep-feeling collection not afraid to look loss in the face."
—Cole Swensen

"Missing Her is Keelan's sixth collection of poems. Parts of it will stay with you long after reading..." Vince Corvaia, NewPages.com

Available through Amazon.com and Small Press Distribution

Publication Date: October 5, 2009
$15.00 paper | 79 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-930974-86-9

Claudia Keelan Essay on Poetry Daily

Claudia Keelan's essay "Ecstatic Émigré," from American Poetry Review, May / June 2009, is up on the Poetry Daily website. Claudia Keelan's latest book, Missing Her, is forthcoming in the Green Rose Series from New Issues Press in the fall of 2009. She lives in Las Vegas.